An insulated staple is generally of a U-shaped configuration with a non-metallic insulating strip of material that is in contact with an insulated conductor, conduit, water pipe or tubular material containing fiber optic lines that transfer electronic data. The most common purpose of this device is to attach an electrical conductor to a non-conducting supporting structure. Historically, an insulating staple is used to attach electrical wiring to the walls of a building. During this simple process of attaching a conducting wire with an insulated staple to a wall or stud the person driving the staple into supporting structure will occasionally smash his or her finger with a hammer. If using an insulated staple to attach different conductors or electronic components to manufacture an electronic device there is little room for holding the staple so that one might carefully view how far to push the staple into the supporting structure.
With this invention, the insulating strip of material bridges the section of the staple body member and extends beyond one or both staple legs to allow for gripping and holding the staple, via the insulating strip, with thumb and forefinger. By positioning the staple with one's fingers away from the head of the staple during penetration into a support a construction worker or electrician or electronics technician will be more clearly able to see the staple and to also see more clearly what the staple is holding for attachment into a supporting structure. In all cases positioning the staple with one's fingers away from the head of the staple during penetration with a hammer or driving device will result in fewer injuries to those fingers holding the staple.
U-shaped insulated staples for mounting conduits such as electrical conductors or conduits to support objects are well known in the art as indicated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 662,587; 843,916; 2,351,608; 2,526,902; 3,154,999; 3,176,945; 3,894,174; 3,940,844; 4,697,045; Des. 298,916; and Des. 330,699. In a typical installation where such staples are employed, the elongated conductor is held in place by the component parts of the staple comprising a bridging section interconnecting two generally opposed and parallel legs straddling the conductor. The parallel legs have pointed, free ends, which are driven into the supporting, object by a hammer or other tool. The bridging section of the U-shaped staple is frequently lined or covered with an insulating material so that the electrical conductor, conduit, cable or other device being anchored is held in isolated relationship from the staple. In this respect, the use of the terms “insulated,” “insulating” or “insulation” in this specification is intended to encompass electrical, thermal, and vibrational insulating characteristics, all of which can be advantageously employed between mounting an insulated staple and a supported electrical conductor, cable or conduit.
In the prior art staples exemplified in the above-referenced patents, the U-shaped body member is formed from a relatively hard material, most commonly a metal, in order to withstand the blows of a hammer as the staple is driven into a supporting base. Since most metals are good electrical and thermal conductors and, by their inherent hardness, tend to transmit vibratory forces with little attenuation to the supported conduit, it is common to provide insulation about the bridging section and contiguous portions of the parallel legs of the body member by coating or mounting an insulating material on the body member to separate the conduit and body member in the mounted positions.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 662,587; 843,916; 2,351,608; 3,176,945; 4,697,045; Des. 298,916; and Des. 330,699 the insulator is formed from a strip of insulating material and is held to the body member by frictional engagement of the legs. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,526,902; 3,154,999; 3,894,174; and 3,940,844 the insulating material is applied to the staple as a close-fitting covering preferably applied by a molding operation with a special molding die of suitable construction. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 249,851; 330,444; 1,833,786; 2,632,346 there are no insulators added to the staple. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 100,055; 274,481; 667,700; 712,245; 1,051,212; 1,103,444; 1,112,849; 1,310,908; and 1,737,206 there are no insulators added to the barbed staple or spike.
In each of the above-referenced prior art staples, the staple is held most often by one or both legs of the staple with the thumb and forefinger when the staple is driven into a support structure with a hammer. While the end products are suitable for their intended purposes, there is little doubt that over the last 100 years many a thumb and forefinger have been injured with a hammer or mallet during the act of driving a staple into supporting wood. Although painful, it is most often the case in the electrical and building trades that a finger is injured only slightly. However, it is not uncommon to loose a fingernail or incur an injury that is more serious.
An injury that is much more serious than loosing a fingernail, caused by blunt trauma, such as hitting the end of your finger or fingers with a hammer, is called “Mallet Finger.” It is inventors' understanding that the origin of the name “Mallet finger” comes from a finger being injured by being struck with a mallet. Mallet finger injury usually represents mechanical failure of the terminal digital extensor mechanism, either from tendon disruption or fracture of the most distal interphalangeal joint of a finger. In the building and construction trades, mallet finger most commonly involves the forefinger of the hand opposite the hand holding a hammer. Mallet finger injuries may be classified as follows:                Closed tendon rupture        Laceration with or without joint surface injury        Abrasion with tissue loss        A fracture of the most distal interphalangeal (finger) joint with subclassification of this joint also defined as being subluxated or not being subluxated        
Treatment is individualized and involves either conservative treatment with continuous extension splinting or surgical repair and pinning of the injured joint. Splinting must be continuous to be effective. Surgery has risks of infection, hardware problems, stiffness, wound healing problems and technical failure, among other possible complications. Regardless of treatment, some permanent visible loss of both flexion and extension is expected within the finger and injured joint. Persistent deformity is more likely to be obvious in fingers with hyperextensible proximal interphalangeal joints or absent a superficialis tendon. Despite this, functional recovery is usually satisfactory and an electrician or laborer can usually return to work within a few weeks following injury. Without treatment a deformity, created over roughly three months of continued use of the injured finger will result in excess growth of subcutaneous tissue around the most distal interphalangeal joint (the last joint in a finger and just above the finger nail). Rest is important and work involving the injured joint is unlikely to improve with splinting alone. No current treatment can be expected to improve active range of motion for a chronic deformity, and treatment options are generally limited to joint fusion, tenodermodesis, or doing nothing further.
In each of the above-referenced prior art examples of staples, the thumb and forefinger hold a staple by a leg or legs while the staple is “set” and driven into a supporting structure, most often by hitting the head of the staple with a hammer. While the end products of prior art are suitable for their intended purposes, the safety issue of hitting a finger has always been a concern. Those individuals not used to handling a hammer may use a tool, such as a round nose or needle nosed pliers, to hold a staple while being driven into a supporting structure. However, this is not a practical solution for an electrical or labor contractor who needs a job done as safely, efficiently and quickly as possible.
To maintain an efficient time line for construction schedules and also reduce the injury rates of construction labor, inventors disclose a staple which is simple in construction and which can be easily assembled from readily available insulating material having a multitude of other purposes. The significant embodiment of this novel insulated staple is that a finger grip extends from the staple so that the thumb and forefinger are just far enough away from the head of the staple to avoid injury during the act of driving the staple with a hammer yet close enough to provide stability of staple positioning.
Upon review of prior art it is obvious that a long-standing need has existed to provide a novel staple wherein the thumb and forefinger are less likely to be injured with a hammer or mallet. Inventors teach the present invention relates to both a safer to install insulated staple and the method for making such a staple.